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Linked (Open) Data

Linked (Open) Data. Opportunities and challenges Makx Dekkers mail@makxdekkers.com. Outline. Basic notions Recent developments Comparing objectives Opportunities and risks Conclusions. Basic notions. The idea and its history.

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Linked (Open) Data

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  1. Linked (Open) Data Opportunities and challenges Makx Dekkers mail@makxdekkers.com

  2. Outline • Basic notions • Recent developments • Comparing objectives • Opportunities and risks • Conclusions Journeés ABES 2011

  3. Basic notions Journeés ABES 2011

  4. The idea and its history • 1989: Tim Berners-Lee already talked about linking documents and data together (http://www.w3.org/History/1989/proposal.html) • 2001: Tim Berners-Lee and Ora Lassila introduced the “Semantic Web” (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-semantic-web) • 2006: Tim Berners-Lee presented the initial design issues (rules) for Linked Data (http://www.w3.org/DesignIssues/LinkedData.html) Journeés ABES 2011

  5. W3C Semantic Web initiative • Objective • to create a universal medium for the exchange of data […] to smoothly interconnect personal information management, enterprise application integration, and the global sharing of commercial, scientific and cultural data • Main results • Resource Description Framework (RDF), RDFa (RDF-in-HTML), SPARQL Query Language Journeés ABES 2011

  6. Core Linked Data Specifications • Transport • HTTP Hypertext Transfer Protocol • Identification • URI Uniform Resource Identifier • Description and linking • RDF Resource Description Framework • Search and access • SPARQL Query Language for RDF Journeés ABES 2011

  7. The four rules of Linked Data • TBL’s recommendations: • Use URIs as names for things • Use HTTP URIs so that people can look up those names • When someone looks up a URI, provide useful information, using the standards (RDF*, SPARQL) • Include links to other URIs so that they can discover more things Journeés ABES 2011

  8. The basic model of RDF • Resource Description Framework “triple”: • Subject: the “thing” (resource) described • Predicate: the characteristic of the resource • Object: the value of the characteristic Subject Object Predicate Journeés ABES 2011

  9. Complex structures in RDF hometown This presentation presenter Barcelona Makx Dekkers ABES partOf location organizer Montpellier Journées ABES location 17-18 May 2011 date Journeés ABES 2011

  10. Linked (Open / Enterprise) Data • Commonalities • Using Semantic Web technologies (RDF) • Linking information resources, people, places • Differences • Open Data with open licenses; Enterprise Data mostly for closed, controlled environments • Open Data links to other Open Data, available for external use; Enterprise Data may link to external data but not openly available for external use Journeés ABES 2011

  11. Linked Data -- Open Data • Linked Data: focus on technology • Semantic Web: Resource Description Framework, and other Web standards • Final solutions still under development • Open Data: focus on strategy • Based on notion that sharing is important and benefits all • Technology is secondary Journeés ABES 2011

  12. The five-star system Source: http://inkdroid.org/journal/2010/06/04/the-5-stars-of-open-linked-data/ Journeés ABES 2011

  13. The LOD diagram: 2007 25 datasets Linking Open Data cloud diagram, by Richard Cyganiak and Anja Jentzsch. http://lod-cloud.net/ Journeés ABES 2011

  14. The LOD diagram: 2008 45 datasets Linking Open Data cloud diagram, by Richard Cyganiak and Anja Jentzsch. http://lod-cloud.net/ Journeés ABES 2011

  15. The LOD diagram: 2009 95 datasets Linking Open Data cloud diagram, by Richard Cyganiak and Anja Jentzsch. http://lod-cloud.net/ Journeés ABES 2011

  16. The LOD diagram: 2010 203 datasets Linking Open Data cloud diagram, by Richard Cyganiak and Anja Jentzsch. http://lod-cloud.net/ Journeés ABES 2011

  17. Recent developments Journeés ABES 2011

  18. W3C communities • LinkingOpenData SWEO Community Project • Goal: to extend the Web with a data commons by publishing various open data sets as RDF on the Web and by setting RDF links between data items from different data sources (http://www.w3.org/wiki/SweoIG/TaskForces/CommunityProjects/LinkingOpenData) • Library Linked Data Incubator Group • to help increase global interoperability of library data on the Web (http://www.w3.org/2005/Incubator/lld/) Journeés ABES 2011

  19. More W3C communities • Government Linking Data Working Group • to provide standards and other information which help governments around the world publish their data as effective and usable linked data (http://www.w3.org/2011/gld/charter) • Semantic Web Health Care and Life Sciences (HCLS) Interest Group • to develop, advocate for, and support the use of Semantic Web technologies for health care and life science (e.g. biology, medicine) (http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/hcls/) Journeés ABES 2011

  20. Open Knowledge Foundation, okfn.org • not-for-profit organization promoting open knowledge: any kind of data and content that can be freely used, reused, and redistributed • Working and Interest Groups, e.g. • Open Data in Science, Open Government Data, Open Bibliographic Data, Cultural Heritage etc. • CKAN.net: registry of open datasets and other “knowledge resources” Journeés ABES 2011

  21. Linked Data initiatives Journeés ABES 2011

  22. More Linked Data initiatives Journeés ABES 2011

  23. Comparing objectives Journeés ABES 2011

  24. Strategic aspects Linked Data • Achieving global interoperability with minimal coordination • Aggregating human knowledge • Supporting democracy, transparency and accountability • Enhancing and enriching information • Enabling user-driven and user-generated applications Journeés ABES 2011

  25. Strategic aspects libraries • Organizing information for use by specific users for specific goals • Ensuring and maintaining quality • Sustaining services economically • Preserving information for the long term • Providing trusted services Journeés ABES 2011

  26. Functional aspects Linked Data • Searching distributed collections • “Following your nose” – navigating links between pieces of content • Distributing responsibility for making statements about things • Leaving to the user whom and what to trust • Leaving development of products and services to an open market (apps) Journeés ABES 2011

  27. Functional aspects libraries • Describing information by professionals • Bringing together and managing aggregations of information • Selecting relevant information • Mixing analogue and digital resources Journeés ABES 2011

  28. Technical aspects Linked Data • Publishing and using machine-readable statements (“data that speak for themselves”) • Focusing on Semantic Web technology • Enabling inferences across large distributed data sets • (Still to be done) Solving issues around harvesting, caching and real-time updating Journeés ABES 2011

  29. Technical aspects libraries • Using proven technology to provide high-quality services • Managing production systems and services • Guaranteeing performance, uptime, consistency across data Journeés ABES 2011

  30. Agility versus sustainability • In the Linked Data space: • Things move fast • Trial-and-error • Lots of development by volunteers (hackers) • In the library domain: • Operational systems need to evolve • Need to handle legacy data • Development by professionals in managed projects Journeés ABES 2011

  31. Data versus services • In the Linked Data space: • Focus on availability of “raw data” • Quality is secondary • Data and technology should lead to useful results • In the library domain: • Focus on services • Quality is essential • Data and technology in support of the service Journeés ABES 2011

  32. Economic aspects • In the Linked Data space: • “Information wants to be free” – a human right? • Short-term thinking: today is hot, yesterday is not • Focus on applications to create value out of data • In the library domain: • Long-term view: sustainability is crucial • Public money to provide community services • Expected to do more with less money Journeés ABES 2011

  33. Opportunities and risks Journeés ABES 2011

  34. Strong points Linked Data • Attempt to create a common technical platform for machine-readable data • Lots of enthusiasm in publishing open data • Promise of global interoperability • Mix of researchers, user communities, hackers, professional data providers • High visibility on political level Journeés ABES 2011

  35. Risks Linked Data • Driven by technology, not by requirements • Technology may not (yet) be stable – RDF 2.0? • Operational issues far from solved (reliability, performance, quality, security, trust) • Hope for general agreement across domains may not be realistic • Promise may turn into disappointment Journeés ABES 2011

  36. Strong points libraries • Long time operational experience in managing information • Professional intermediaries between users and information needs • Sustainable business models (albeit with eternally shrinking budgets) • Long-term perspective: the past (legacy data) as well as the future (preservation) Journeés ABES 2011

  37. Risks libraries • Technologies change rapidly • New skills difficult to spread through the organization • Some people see libraries as a thing of the past (“the book museum”) • Underestimation of information handling skills • Information overload, human intervention does not scale, need for better tools Journeés ABES 2011

  38. Meeting both worlds • An example: Europeana.eu • Started out with domain perspectives (libraries, archives, museums, audiovisual archives) • “Traditional” approach (metadata mappings) works but insufficient • Using Linked Data approach preserves domain specifics but allows for generalization to support common services • Cross-domain (but co-ordinated) interoperability Journeés ABES 2011

  39. Europeana Data Model Classes Properties Complex example Simple example Source at: http://version1.europeana.eu/web/europeana-project/technicaldocuments/ Journeés ABES 2011

  40. Conclusion Journeés ABES 2011

  41. Libraries and Linked Data • Using Linked Data technology as the next step in connecting services • Offering information management skills to the technology domain • Creating a quality hub in the Linked Data space Journeés ABES 2011

  42. Best of both worlds • Libraries providing stability and sustainability to Linked Data spaces • Library professionals helping to manage the distributed collections • Libraries delivering high-quality linked data to the Web • Technologists to provide the next generation of systems and tools Journeés ABES 2011

  43. Linked (Open) Data: opportunity for libraries! Thank you! Makx Dekkers mail@makxdekkers.com

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